


love at first bite

by orphan_account



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Human Yuuri, Long-Haired Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Vampire Victor, the self-indulgent vampire au no one wanted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-11 18:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13529640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Yuuri reflected grimly that following Phichit to a crumbling Victorian manor in the middle of the night was in retrospect, a bad idea.





	1. Chapter 1

Yuuri reflected grimly that following Phichit to a crumbling Victorian manor in the middle of the night was in retrospect, a bad idea. Struggling under the weight of Phichit’s props and attempting to juggle his iPhone in one hand, which was his only source of light, was also ill advised. Huffing beneath his load he wheezed, “Phichit, how much longer?”  
  
“Not much! I can’t wait for you to see it, Yuuri! It’s everything I could ever ask for,” he said cheerfully. His voice sounded distinctly out of place in the dark woods they were currently trekking through. Although, Yuuri thought bitterly, it was easy to be unconcerned when the only thing Phichit was holding was his precious, thousand-dollar camera.  
  
“Phichit,” Yuuri groaned, exasperated as he tripped on a wayward root.  
  
“We’re here!” Phichit interjected loudly. The branches gave way to a distorted view of a crumbling manor that sat atop a small hill. It was a cloudless night, yet a fine mist clung strangely to the house almost as if it the house itself was emitting its own ghostly glow. It was in a state of disrepair but still alluded to its past glory days of splendor. Yuuri grudgingly admitted Phichit picked a good location for the shoot.  
  
Yuuri eyed the house suspiciously. “Isn’t this trespassing?”  
  
Phichit merely breezed past him pointing out the graves at the foot of the hill with unabashed enthusiasm. Sighing, Yuuri followed him. Phichit paused at a large gravestone with a rather severe looking stone angel glaring down at them. Yuuri gaped at it. An ornate plaque at the foot of the statue declared that it was the final resting place of Viktor Nikiforov. “This would be a good place to shoot Lust. What do you think? You could drape yourself over it,” Phichit grinned wickedly.  
  
Yuuri felt an inexplicable thrill of excitement. “Maybe…” he said reluctantly.  
  
Phichit moved on to examine another gravestone while Yuuri gazed, mesmerized at the stone face of the angel. It had a lovely face despite the terrifying glare and a universal beauty that was difficult to distinguish between male and female. It had a full mouth, and the lips looked so soft, they did not look as if they were carved out of stone, Yuuri wondered if it would be soft if he touched it, if only he could reach up… “Yuuri!” Phichit laughed, already at the door of the mansion, “what are you doing?”  
  
“N-nothing!” Yuuri felt his face heat up and quickly made his way through the graves. “Surely, they didn’t leave the door unlocked for a hundred years,” he scoffed.  
  
Phichit only grinned as he tried the handle and the door swung open.  
  
“That’s… convenient.”  
  
“I already scoped the place out, come on.”  
  
The inside of the manor was all ruined splendor. Dust coated remarkably untouched gold and spider webs glinted silver when Yuuri shown his light on them. Thousand perhaps millions of dollars’ worth of furniture and paintings were in the first room alone. Yuuri discovered a miraculously dustless piano crouching in a corner of the room.  “How is everything still in pristine condition,” Yuuri breathed pressing a key. The single note felt muffled by the extraordinary silence of the manor.  
  
Phichit shrugged, “Dunno. I think it’s owned by some Russian guy now. Yakov something? He should probably invest in a better security system.”  
  
Yuuri rolled his eyes. “Where do you want me to set up?” Phichit led him through a series of hallways. One hallway was lined with portraits. Yuuri paused to examine one of a golden haired young boy who gazed out of the painting defiantly with his lip curled into a frown.  
  
“This is the place!” The room was the epitome of luxury. It was adorned in silver and royal blue. A large four-poster bed dominated the room. Phichit had already set up lights and a generator for power. Yuuri let out an impressed whistle. “We’re doing Greed tonight.” Yuuri should have guessed. As Yuuri slipped into a sheer silver robe and worked on his makeup and hair, Phichit puttered around the room arranging and then rearranging the decorative pillows on the bed with an almost manic twinkle in his eye.  
  
Phichit let out a low whistle as he looked Yuuri up and down, “I knew I made the right choice when I asked you to model for me,” he said breathlessly.  
  
Yuuri hid his face in his hands in embarrassment, as Phichit laughed heartily, “Now, now Yuuri, don’t get all shy on me! Just summon the persona you did for the Envy shoot. Let’s get started!”  
  
  
  
   
Yuuri was beginning to slip back into his canvas shoes when he heard it. His stomach immediately curled in on itself in fear. “Did you hear that?”  
  
“Hmmm?” Phichit hummed distractedly as he reviewed the photos from the shoot on his camera. Musical notes and a soft voice trickled into their room and Phichit turned to look at Yuuri with wide eyes.  
  
Yuuri’s mouth was suddenly dry and he found that he had to swallow several times before he whispered, “Are you sure Yakov isn’t home?” Phichit’s face immediately contorted into an expression that Yuuri recognized as his “oh shit” face.  
  
“We need to leave now,” Yuuri hissed.  
  
“But the lights and the generator!”  
  
Yuuri shook his head, “Either we leave now or we get caught trying to smuggle out a 50-pound generator from his house.” The strange distorted music seemed to swell, filling the room just then, the piano music had become considerably angrier in what reminded Yuuri of Chopin. The cacophony of notes filled Yuuri with giddy terror as he and Phichit raced out of the hallway the music seeming to chase them. As they neared the exit Yuuri threw his head back to look behind him and found a pair of startling blue eyes gazing back at him in surprise. Absurdly, Yuuri thought that the stone angel from the graveyard had come to life to punish them. Yuuri only let out a startled shriek as the man parted his lips and reached out a pale hand, just as Phichit closed his hand around Yuuri’s wrist and pulled him through the door. Yuuri was left with the image of a man that looked like he had emerged from a fairytale, with long silver hair and a beautifully melancholic face.  
  
As Yuuri and Phichit raced through the graveyard, Yuuri could feel eyes on his back. Later, when Yuuri collapsed into his bedroom he reflected that the figure didn’t strike him as angry but  _lonely_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wish I had a friend like Phichit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Throwing this up real quick before work! Please forgive any mistakes OTL

Phichit was oddly quiet the next morning. When Yuuri tried to broach the subject of last night and the strange man in the manor, Phichit only shook his head pensively. “Let’s not talk about it right now,” he said between classes with an uncharacteristically somber look on his face. As Yuuri watched his back disappear in the sea of students, he thought he misinterpreted Phichit’s expression. It wasn’t thoughtfulness that caused the taunt line in Phichit’s shoulders, it was fear.

 

 

“We need to go back.”

“Excuse me, _what_?” Phichit stared at him in surprise not noticing that his convenience store sushi roll had slipped from his chopsticks and landed on the grass.

“We _have_ to go back,” Yuuri amended calmly. Phichit merely continued staring at him, slack jawed. “How much money are we going to lose if we leave the lights and generator there? Can we really afford to lose most of our equipment mid-semester? I left my favorite jacket there too,” Yuuri added as an afterthought.

Phichit started shaking his head before Yuuri even finished his sentence. “No, no, no, _no_. Yuuri, have you lost your mind? Did you not see what was in there?” Noticing that other students in the courtyard were staring at them, Phichit lowered his voice, “There’s no way. I’m not going back in there.”

Yuuri huffed. “If you’re talking about Yakov- “

“Yakov? No! I’m talking about the thing that was chasing us!” Phichit said shrilly.

Yuuri frowned. “What thing? The only thing in the house was Yakov, I think we scared him half to death.”

“Did you really not see it?” Phichit asked, eyes wide, real fear edging into his voice.

“The man with the silver hair?” Yuuri said incredulously.

Phichit shook his head slowly. “No, not a man. Something evil, a child that was not a child,” he said darkly.

“You’re so full of it,” Yuuri laughed but even he had to admit the smile pulling at the edges of his mouth was forced.

“Yuuri,” Phichit said seriously grasping both his shoulders firmly, “You’re my best friend and I love you. So I’m begging you please don’t go back. I promise you it’s not worth it. We’ll get by without the equipment this semester,” he grimaced, “probably.”

Yuuri considered him. For as long as he had known Phichit, he had never seen him this frightened. And yes, that was true fear in his black eyes. But strangely, he was called to the mysterious man that lived in the manor on the hill. “I’m going. You don’t have to come with me. I’ll bring back your lights.”

“Ugggghh,” Phichit groaned burying his face in Yuuri’s shoulder, “I hate you so much right now.”

 

 

They agreed to recover their items as quickly as possible. “The sooner the better,” Phichit had said grimly, “I want to get this over with.” The sun was weak and a faint mist was in the air, giving the surrounding wood an almost dreamlike quality. The manor itself looked just as imposing in daylight. Phichit handed Yuuri a rosary wordlessly as they both stared up at it.

Yuuri felt the joke that was on the tip of his tongue die when he saw how badly Phichit was shaking. “Phichit,” he said softly, “You don’t have to come with me. Wait here. I’ll talk to Yakov and get our stuff back.”

Phichit only shook his head. “What kind of friend would I be if I let you walk into the lion’s den on your own,” he said with a brave attempt at a smile. He looped his arm through Yuuri’s and together they stepped into the graveyard. Phichit paused at one gravestone. He stared at it in mute horror. The name Yuri Plisetsky was carved into the stone plaque. Above the name, the likeness of a young boy was carved faithfully out of stone. Yuri recognized him as the boy he had seen in the portrait last night. All color had drained from Phichit’s face.

“Are you okay?” Yuuri said, growing more concerned as Phichit said nothing staring at the stone statue.

“Fine!” Phichit said with a watery smile tearing his gaze from the statue, “Let’s keep going.”

“Okay,” Yuri said hesitantly throwing him a worried look.

They reached the porch of the house and Phichit gasped. Their equipment lights, generator and all were sitting on the porch. Yuuri’s pink jacket was folded neatly on top of the generator. There was a slight bulge in the fabric indicating that something was hidden under it. Yuuri uncovered a blue rose, flawless and improbably beautiful. A note attached to the stem read in an elegant script, “For the boy with the brown eyes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you think was chasing Yuuri and Phichit last night :~) Also, I finally have a plot in mind for this story and an idea of where this story is going to go . I’ll change the tags this weekend to reflect these changes. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri is even thirstier than Victor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hard for me to write. My beta and I worked hard on it. Please enjoy!

This was quite possibly the single stupidest thing Yuuri had ever done in his life, and that included making the trek up to the manor the first time. At least he had Phichit with him previously, but now, huffing and puffing his way through the uphill terrain of the woods surrounding the manor, Yuuri realized the gravity of the decision he had made. He imagined he was the ingénue of a horror movie and that he could hear the audience groaning in exasperation at his choices; Phichit would probably go so far as to throw popcorn at the screen. He winced at the thought as he vowed never to return again.

“I’ve learned my lesson.” Yuuri remembered his friend mentioning solemnly as they sat in a small coffee shop after collecting their equipment, “I, Phichit Chulanont vow, that from this moment forward, to be a law abiding citizen. My days of breaking and entering into creepy manors in the name of photography are over.” The young Thai man gave an exasperated sigh, tossing back another espresso as he rubbed the dark circles under his eyes, “More importantly, you should stay far, _far_ away,” He continued, eyeing the blue rose Yuuri held in his hand warily. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Yuuri guessed it was the combination of lack of sleep and the stress of impending midterms that had led to Phichit breaking his silence on what he had seen in the manor. His friend had taken to sudden bouts of deafness whenever Yuuri brought up the subject of the manor and the blue rose. Phichit exhaled sharply and shot him an icy glare as he tried to discuss the situation again, “Yuuri, I already told you, I don’t want to talk about it. Can we drop it, please?”

“Don’t you think we should go back and apologize? I mean, we did break into the man’s house,” Yuuri reasoned.

Phichit just gave him a flat look before turning his attention back to his laptop. “I think the fact that he tossed our things outside says that we’re not welcome anymore loud and clear,” he snorted.

“But the rose-“

“Yuuri, what I saw in that house was not human,” Phichit interjected. Despite the warmth of the coffee shop Yuuri felt a shiver wrack through his body - he leaned in closer. “At least it wasn’t human anymore,” Phichit continued lowly, his eyes darting around at the other coffee shop patrons suspiciously, “I saw his gravestone when we went back. Do you wanna tell me how it’s possible that a dead boy chased us out of the house?”

Yuuri felt the hair on his arms stand on end. “I keep thinking about it,” Phichit confessed, “I can’t sleep anymore knowing that evil thing is out there in our town. I know it sounds crazy, but please listen to me: don’t go back. It’s no Casper the Friendly Ghost, it’s dangerous.”

Yuuri gulped, “How do you know it’s not a ghost?”

“Because…” Phichit whispered fearfully, “it had fangs.”

Recalling Phichit’s words sent a pang of anxiety through his body.

Even in the dying daylight the forest surrounding the manor was foreboding and Yuuri couldn’t help but think again that this was very, very stupid. Fog threaded its way through the trees, becoming thicker and more suffocating the closer he got to the house on the hill.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of trudging uphill, he could see the top most towers of the manor peeking out of the fog and trees. Yuuri paused at the edge of the forest, his heart pounding wildly. _I can still turn back_ , he thought, his stomach coiling in apprehension, _it’s not too late._ However, his desire to see the silver haired man was stronger than the fear that something unholy may be lurking in the house.

He had replayed the scene of their first meeting constantly in his head, recalling the man’s enchanting eyes: as crisp and cascading as the waves of the Caribbean, and nearly as cerulean - the wide eyed surprised look he had given Yuuri only seemed to enhance this; moreover, he imagined the delicate, spider-web like texture of the man’s eyelashes shining softly in the light of his phone.

“I’m going to drive myself insane,” Yuuri groaned, snapping himself out of his daydreams, “I have no choice but to see this through.”

As he stepped out of the woods resolutely, his heart began to pound wildly in his chest, muffling the sounds of the surrounding wildlife, and threatening to nearly pop out of his chest as he raised a hesitant hand to knock on the manor door. It opened easily as his knuckles connected to the deep brown of the mahogany.

Yuuri gasped. The interior of the manor was pitch black, save for the soft crimson emitting from the late evening sky. Yuuri chewed his bottom lip anxiously. He had decided to visit the manor under the pretense of apologizing for breaking in the night before, but he couldn’t very well waltz in a second time.

Something shifted in the darkness and a pair of eyes suddenly blinked open in the shadows. The light from the setting sun streaming through the open door caused the eyes to reflect back bluely, like a cat’s. Yuuri inhaled sharply as the figure stepped closer, standing just outside the rectangle of light the open door welcomed onto the floor. All except his eyes, which still glowed with a strange animal-like luminance, and a flash of silver hair remained in shadow.

“You came back,” it spoke softly.

Yuuri’s heart leapt, whether from fear or the sudden rush of adrenaline, he couldn’t tell. “Y-yes! To apologize for, you know, breaking in before…” Yuuri trailed off with a grimace.

The shadow said nothing, but his eyes glowed as he regarded Yuuri thoughtfully. As the rectangle of light on the floor slowly retreated with the gradual setting of the sun it took a step closer, again staying just outside the puddle of light. Yuuri surprised himself by not stepping back as he came closer, instead being drawn in irresistibly. This seemed to surprise the individual into finally speaking, “You shouldn’t have come here. The woods are dangerous.” Yuuri thought he saw the gleam of a sharp canine tooth as the man spoke. The light continued to retreat from the floor and the figure inched its way closer still.

“I-I-I...yes. I-I’m sorry,” he stammered, “I just didn’t want to leave things like that the other night. I don’t usually break into houses,” he chuckled nervously. “We didn’t think you’d be home.”

Yuuri winced. _Nice,_ he chided himself, _that made me sound like an even bigger idiot. So it’s okay to break into houses as long as the owner isn’t home?_ With reddened cheeks he hurried on, “A-anyway! I’m Yuuri. Yuuri Katsuki. You’re Yakov, right?”

As he finished his painful introduction the last dredges of sunlight finally dissipated and the figure stepped out of the shadow of the house. Yuuri’s heart leapt into his throat. He was tall. _Much_ taller than Yuuri anticipated. The melancholic beauty Yuuri had remembered was all the more apparent up close: his skin was smooth and white, reflecting and scattering the little light that remained outside like satin. He looked oddly colorless which was emphasized by the simple cream turtleneck he wore and plain gray slacks. The cerulean of his eyes and a light wash of rose on his full lips were the only spots of color on him. Yuuri found his eyes drawn to his mouth as it curved upwards slightly.

“No,” the man mused mischievously.

“W-wha?” Yuuri spluttered, broken out of his reverie. His cheeks reddened at being caught staring so blatantly.

The man’s smile widened amusedly before he spoke. “No, I am not Yakov.”

“O-oh-“ Yuuri stammered awkwardly.

He moved closer to the anxious boy and leaned down slightly, close enough that Yuuri could smell the strong scent of roses. He shivered. The intoxicating smell was almost overbearing. He remembered that roses only let off their strongest perfume while they were decaying.

“I’m Victor,” the man murmured, leaning in closer still so that they were almost nose to nose. Yuuri inhaled suddenly, Victor’s eyes sparkling as he teased Yuuri with a smile. He stepped back abruptly and Yuuri immediately missed their closeness. “Yakov is my uncle. My brother and I are watching the place for him. His name is Yuri too.” He suddenly smiled, delighted at the coincidence.

“I-I... oh. Cool.” Yuuri blubbered out dumbly. He hadn’t quite recovered from Victor’s proximity.

There was the sound of glass shattering in the distance. Victor looked up at the darkened windows of the manor and frowned. “Forgive me for not inviting you inside, my brother is not particularly… _fond_ of visitors. Well,” he said lightly with a quick wink, “it’s not like you need an invitation.”

“I-I’m sorry!” Yuuri squeaked.

Victor waved an airy hand and laughed. “Since you’ve come all this way to apologize, allow me to entertain you in my garden.” Without waiting for a response he bounded down the stairs of the porch with the liquid grace of a cat, leaving a dumbfounded Yuuri in his wake.

“Yuuri!” Victor called from the bottom step. “What are you still doing up there?” He laughed. “Follow me!”

Yuuri scrambled down the steps after him, while Victor moved lithely and with purpose. Yuuri wondered how Victor could even see in the darkness as he tripped over a protruding gravestone for the umpteenth time. In a fit of frustration he pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. The sudden wash of artificial light illuminated Victor’s startled expression. He came closer and marveled at the pink iPhone in Yuuri’s hand, amazed at the device as if he had never seen anything quite like it.

Victor’s eyes sparkled as the light spilled from Yuuri’s hand. “Incredible,” he breathed.

Yuuri only raised an eyebrow, this wasn’t even the latest model. Victor’s eyes lifted to Yuuri’s and Yuuri couldn’t resist smiling at the childlike wonder he found in them.

“Look up,” Victor said, excitedly gesturing around them.

At first Yuuri noticed what looked like pollen floating around them, strangely though, the pollen seemed to glow like fireflies. Yuuri slowly reached out to an orb floating close to him, his fingertip causing it to lazily change direction. He laughed out a wondering, “What?” And turned to look at Victor, smiling, only to find that Victor wasn’t looking at the mysterious orbs, he was looking at him. Yuuri immediately felt warmth flare into his cheeks.

“Look, Yuuri, look around you.” Victor whispered into his ear, turning Yuuri slowly with an arm around his shoulder. He gasped as the plants surrounding them, completely unremarkable during the day, began to blossom. Tight buds began to unfurl and barren stems began to flower, their petals glowing white in the starlight. Yuuri spun slowly in wonder as the seemingly dead garden came to life. He laughed in amazement. “How?”

“They’re called Night Blossoms,” Victor said, eyes shining as he looked at Yuuri’s face. “They only bloom at night.” He leaned down to stroke the petals of a blue flower tenderly. The scant starlight turned Victor’s hair into a river of gossamer, the long strands glimmering prettily enough to rival the newfound brilliance of the nocturnal flowers. Yuuri stared, enchanted, thinking that Victor was a far more beautiful display than the blossoms.

Victor gestured to Yuuri, crouching to get a better look at the flower Victor had been stroking so tenderly. It was a blue rose, identical to the one he had given him previously. Victor declined his head, hair falling across his eyes. He looked up between his lashes and asked shyly, “Do you like it?”

Yuuri let out a huff of incredulous laughter. “Like it? Victor, this is incredible!” He was rewarded with another heart shaped smile, and watched as Victor surveyed his garden with an almost maternal-like fondness. The backdrop of softly glowing pollen, night flowers, and the light from his phone shining on Victor’s profile made Yuuri’s heart ache in a way he couldn’t quite describe. “It’s so beautiful,” he finally whispered.

Victor looked back at him, his gaze studying the boys face. For the first time since they met, Victor seemed out of his element. “Yuuri, I- “

A sudden crash from inside the manor made Yuuri jump and Victor wince. “It appears that my brother misses my company,” he said ruefully, helping Yuuri to his feet. He tried not to flinch at the unnatural coldness of Victor’s hand or stare as he noticed how long and pointed his fingernails were. “He won’t admit that he likes spending time with his older brother, but he gets terribly lonely.” A look of unspeakable sadness crossed Victor’s face before he smiled apologetically.

“I understand,” Yuuri murmured, eyes searching Victor’s face, but found that his expression yielded nothing but polite regret. “I should go too, I need to get some homework done before midnight.”

Another crash from inside the manor made Yuuri jump again. Victor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked up at the house and saw, for a split second, the silhouette of a boy in the window. He blinked in surprise and no sooner did his eyes open, that the figure had vanished.

“You should take the main road back.” Victor suggested firmly.

“Main road? It’s faster taking a shortcut through the woods.“

“The woods are dangerous.” Victor tutted, lowering himself so as to look at Yuuri face to face; his long hair falling once again into his eyes. “Bears, wolves... _other_ predators. The woods are no place for a lovely specimen such as yourself. The road is well lit and most importantly, safe,” Victor smiled, gently pushing Yuuri encouragingly into the direction of the road.

“O-okay,” Yuuri said, confused at Victor’s insistence.

Before he left, Victor bent down to kiss the back of Yuuri’s hand smoothly, his cool lips sending a thrill up his spine.

“You’ll come back to see me, won’t you, Yuuri? I get lonely too sometimes,” Victor said smiling, but his eyes glimmering in a strange, almost pleading fashion.

_You couldn’t keep me away_ , Yuuri thought. “Of course,“ he replied.

Victor beamed positively radiantly and waved him goodbye. Before Yuuri rounded the edge of the road, he turned to wave back; blinking hard and rubbing his glasses with his sleeve, it had almost looked like there was someone else standing beside him on the hill. He breathed out a rueful sigh and shook his head, chastising himself. Of course no one but Victor waved back, his silhouette dark against the softly glowing pollen. Still, Yuuri couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched by more than one pair of eyes.

Victor watched Yuuri go with an oddly light feeling in his chest. The glowing orbs of light around him shifted and wove themselves into the ghostly form of a woman.

“Do you really think he’ll be back?” The woman asked.

Victor felt giddy in a way he hadn’t in decades, maybe even centuries: the feeling of bubbling joy and wonder had become all but foreign to him as the years wore on, could he have found someone to break the monotony of his existence? He thought he could feel tears well up at the corners of his eyes as he thought of Yuuri’s sweet face. If it was happiness, excitement, or intrigue, he didn’t know, but at this point it didn’t matter. Victor threw his head back and smiled at the stars, startlingly realizing that he didn’t remember the last time a genuine smile like this had crossed his face. Yuuri felt a lot like hope, he decided. Turning to look at his old friend, he grinned tearfully, _“Yes.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Victor is SO dramatic. 
> 
> I have some fun stuff planned ahead. Please look forward to it!


End file.
